Reuters reported that on March 15, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Budapest to protest Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the context of the rise of the opposition party leader Tisza, Peter Magyar, with a commitment to make Hungary a part of a strong Europe and end Orban's 15-year reign.
More than 50,000 people protested Mr. Orban on March 15 despite cold weather and drizzle. They waved the national flag, continuously shouting against Fidesz and praising Tisza.
Speaking to the crowd, Mr. Magyar declared that the Tisza era had arrived, and revealed that the party would conduct a survey on 12 important economic and political issues to listen to the people in the context of Hungary's economy said to be facing difficulties.
Mr. Magyar, a former official in Mr. Orban's government, founded his own movement last year. The Tisza party is named after Hungary's second largest river and is leading Mr. Orban's Fidesz party in most polls as the 2026 election is approaching.
Also on March 15, Prime Minister Orban pledged to suppress foreign-funded politicians and journalists, and once again rejected Ukraine's EU membership, stepping up its election campaign.
Speaking at a rally on Hungarian Day, Mr. Orban mentioned the dark army to refer to non-governmental organizations, journalists, judges and politicians receiving funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and billionaire George Soros, and stated that these components need to be eliminated.
According to Reuters, US President Donald Trump's decision to dissolve USAID has given Mr. Orban more motivation to carry out the suppression plan.
Last month, Prime Minister Orban announced that Hungary would develop laws to protect national sovereignty and investigate foreign funding for Hungarian media outlets as well as non-governmental organizations. This week, his Fidesz party submitted constitutional amendments allowing deportations of citizens with dual nationality if they are seen as a threat to Hungarian sovereignty.
Prime Minister Orban has previously repeatedly clashed with members of the European Union (EU) over bloc policies that he said were undermining democracy in Hungary. He is also a person who always has the opposite viewpoint to his peers on the issue in Ukraine.
Mr. Orban said that the EU's " peace through strength" strategy is unrealistic, and called for direct dialogue with Russia as the US has done in the recent past to seek a ceasefire and sustainable peace in Ukraine.
The Hungarian Prime Minister said that European leaders "want to continue the war rather than peace" after the summit took place in London on March 2. At that time, most of the participants, including the UK and France, proposed the idea of establishing a voluntary alliance between EU member states to deploy troops to Ukraine as a guarantee after a potential peace deal.
